by Chris Billowsin Think (Games), Trade (Blogging)0 commentstags: Game Philosophy, Games Analysis
I came across Oscar Barda’s Gamasutra article where he make a bold attempt to define games. The definition of games is a game in itself, havings its own traps and dangers. There are going to people who are going to vehemently disagree, and people that will simply ignore you. I fall into a third category of people that appreciates his effort, but would like to see it refined. Oscar’s definition of “Games as a formalized fiction of doing” is pretty accurate. There is nothing to fundamentally disagree with, but I think that it doesn’t provide enough depth. While Oscar’s definition can be accurate, I think it is perhaps too broad, captures too many things that makes the definition not helpful when you dig deeper. After all, in saying that human beings are living creatures is an accurate statement, it is so broad that humans are not distinguishable from other animals or even insects. A definition is most helpful when its both broad and deep enough. The problem with “Games being a formalized fiction of doing” is that there are too many other human activities that fall into that definition or neglects game activities that don’t fit his definition, such as: […]